The Valley of the National Bank of Arizona is a bank based in Phoenix, Arizona, established in 1900 and acquired by Bank One in 1992. This bank was one of the leading financial institutions in Arizona during the 20th century and the last major independent bank in Arizona at the time of the acquisition.
Video Valley National Bank of Arizona
History
Early formation and development
The history of the Valley National Bank can be traced back to the formation of the Gila Valley Bank in Solomonville, Arizona, in Graham County, on January 16, 1900. The main shareholder of Gila Valley Bank is the founder of Isadore Solomon town, who founded the city to support the copper mine in the area. This bank has a great position to contribute to the surrounding community in Arizona copper mining, such as Safford, Morenci and Clifton.
The Valley Bank, another precursor to Valley National Bank, is a Phoenix-based institution that serves the agricultural business. In 1914, overlapping the Bank of the Left Bank lacked capital, and fear of running in the bank, shareholders closed the bank in November. They turned to the Gila Valley Bank, asking the agency to help Valley Bank; The Gila Valley bought some of the Bank's Valley assets, and in 1922, they were merged into the Valley Bank of Arizona, later named The Valley Bank and Trust Company. Banks continue to grow with mergers; after the merger of 1935 with the Consolidated National Bank of Tucson, the institution was known as Valley National Bank of Arizona.
In 1932, the Bank Valley built a headquarters for developing companies along with Maricopa County Medical Society, Professional Building. In 1939, the Bank Valley took over the entire building; from 1958 to 1972, a large Neon Sign neon sign board spun adorned the structure.
The Great Depression and Walter Bimson
The Great Depression hurt the Bank Valley badly. In 1933, many national banks closed their doors. Meanwhile, Walter Bimson, son of a blacksmith who had studied economics and worked at the Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, traveled to the Southwest and was impressed with the region. That year, Valley Bank hired Bimson as its president.
Bimson's banking policy broke with conventional wisdom. Amid the depression, he instructed the bank personnel to resume the loan, believing that sufficient funds exist in the community but the loan would be the spark needed to restart the economy. These policies are beginning to put Valley Bank ahead. Within a year after coming to Arizona, Valley Bank was the first in Arizona to become a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and it was one of the first to provide government secured home loans; in 1936, a Miami, Arizona, furniture company credits the government FHA program and Valley National Bank for a 60% increase in business.
Bimson's policy made Valley National Bank a success; he remained the figure of driving the bank until 1952, and remained as chairman of the board until 1970.
Postwar expansion
With Arizona's postwar growth, the Valley National Bank expanded as well. It builds branches throughout the rapidly expanding metropolitan area of ​​Phoenix and other states. In a 1961 article in Los Angeles Times, Arizona senator Barry Goldwater marked the growth of the bank as one that "parallels the explosive progress of Arizona".
In 1972, he built the Valley Center in downtown Phoenix, which remains the tallest building in the state of Arizona; in 1981, he opened the 200th branch, in Solomonville, the city where the bank began. At the same time, it is a pioneer in banking services; it was the first bank in Arizona to issue credit cards in 1965 and pioneer a direct deposit for Social Security in 1973, a program taken nationally two years later. It's also early with a drive-in banking branch and in issuing photo IDs to customers.
Interbank banking activities
The saving and lending crisis of the late 1980s initially caused huge losses in Valley National, which lost $ 149 million in 1989, but the bank rebounded to post earnings positive in 1990 ($ 7.5 million) and 1991 ($ 34.6 million).
To allow the company to expand into neighboring countries, Valley National Bank established a parent company called Valley National Corporation on July 1, 1981.
In its first expansion step, Valley National Corp. bought California Valley Bank based in Fresno, California and Salt Lake City, Utah Valley Utah Bancorp in 1987. The new acquisition is unnamed. At the time of the merger with the Valley of Utah, the Valley National Bank has 250 branches in Arizona and the Utah Valley has 35 branches in Utah. In 1988, the National Valley had to stop their ambitious interstate expansion plans due to the troubled foreign loans in its portfolio. Within a year, the cash flow was so severe that the National Valley was seriously considering selling bank ownership outside of the state. To save, some less productive offices are also closed. Within a few months, the weak real estate market recovered enough so that the National Valley decided to keep its banks out of state.
Bank One Arizona
On April 14, 1992, Valley National Corp. announced a merger with Bank One worth $ 1.2 billion ($ 2.09 billion in 2017 US dollars). At the time of the merger, it has 206 Arizona branches, plus 35 in Utah (where it operates as Valley Bank and Trust Company of Utah) and seven in California (under the California Valley Bank), and holds $ 11 billion in assets. This merger was completed on March 31, 1993 and the parent company Valley National Corp. became Banc One Arizona and Utah Valley Bancorp became Banc One Utah. The banks of the Valley National Bank became Bank One Arizona, Valley Bank and Trust became Bank One Utah, and California Valley Bank became Bank One Fresno. In a two-year merger, Banc One decided to get out of California and sell Bank One Fresno to ValliCorp Holdings, the parent company of Valliwide Bank, formerly Bank of Fresno.
In May 1994, Banc One Corporation increased their holdings in Arizona by acquiring 58 of Arizona's $ 60 million offshore Arizona Offices from the Resolution Trust Corporation for $ 49.36 million. The newly acquired offices are added to the parent company of Banc One Arizona and integrated into Bank One Arizona.
Several branches and offices of the National Bank of the Valley, including the Valley Center (now known as Chase Tower), are still occupied by the successor of Bank One, Chase.
Maps Valley National Bank of Arizona
Historic Buildings
Four buildings associated with Valley National Bank are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona:
- The Gila Valley Bank and Trust Building in Globe, built in 1909
- The National Bank Building Valley in Tucson, built in 1929 for the National Bank of Tucson Consolidation and the oldest skyscraper in town
- The Professional Building in Phoenix, the venue of The Valley Bank and the Trust/Valley National Bank from 1932 to 1972
- Valley Valley National Bank in Casa Grande, built in 1950
Art
Valley National Bank maintained a large art collection, displayed in offices and branch locations, until 1992 the bank's acquisition. At the time, the collection featured 3,500 pieces and was large enough that art was featured on every Center Valley floor (included in Walter Reed Bimson Art Gallery), in every branch of the National Bank Valley, and also filled with large warehouses; banks also employ art curators. The collection was sold by Bank One after the National Valley acquisition, and the pieces were in the hands of museums, private collectors, and with JPMorgan Chase in Manhattan.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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